The most “paranoid” Internet users are well aware of the worst-case scenarios if their personal data falls into the hands of hackers. However, it seems to Surfshark VPN provider that there are too few of them, so he decided to scare overly careless users with the help of classic horror movies.
Experts identified five main cyber threats that Internet users are exposed to, and for each of them they drew a poster, which they were inspired to create by one or another movie. You can download the posters on the Digital Nightmares page on the Surfshark website.
Identity theft – the mastermind: the film “Vertigo” (directed by Alfred Hitchcock)
At the psychoanalytic level, personality is a cocktail of experiences, relationships and desires. But when it comes to financial security, a person is a mosaic of cut and glued names and numbers. When scammers crack a password or a system, it’s only a matter of time before they create a convincing “double” of the victim and begin to ruin her.
Phishing Mastermind: The film “Away” (dir. Jordan Peele)
“Phishing”, that is, “fishing” is when cybercriminals throw bait and wait for the victim to bite. The bait can be in the form of a fake text message or an email from the bank. By clicking on the link, the user downloads malware to his device or gets to a fake website where he needs to enter his credentials, ostensibly for confirmation, which are actually sent into the hands of attackers.
Biometric authentication – the mastermind: the movie “Blade Runner” (directed by Ridley Scott)
Cybersecurity has always been an arms race. Hackers and innocent users are using increasingly sophisticated means to outwit each other. But what happens when the face becomes the next battlefield? Thanks to facial recognition technology, facial features become biometric data. And wherever this “data” is visible (hello, Instagram), users are giving up precious space in the battle for privacy and security.
Espionage Mastermind: The Blair Witch: Coursework from the Other World (dir. Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez)
Spyware is software that hides on a victim’s device and forwards text messages, passwords, location data, and even camera and microphone data to a remote agent. That is, spying. Fraudsters use this access to steal identity or transfer valuable data to advertisers and other agencies. And the Pegasus software, developed by the Israeli cyberweapon company NSO Group, has even been used to spy on journalists and activists.
DDoS attacks – masterminds: the films “Armageddon” and “A Zombie named Sean” (dir. Edgar Wright)
Distributed denial of service (DDoS) occurs when hackers overload a server or network with Internet traffic, which leads to a failure. When a gamer finds out the IP address of his competitor, he can attack his system and slow down the connection (and, accordingly, gaming abilities) to a complete stop.
